The Katherine Bermingham Macklem House, located at 18 Barrie Street, was donated to Queen鈥檚 University in 1993. There is a long history of the house and family who resided on this property near the edge of Queen鈥檚 campus at King and Barrie Streets.
In the year 1830, architect Thomas Rogers built what was said to be a modest home at 18 Barrie Street. The house was altered to be larger in 1865 after being occupied by a variety of Kingstonians, and at this time was still known as the 鈥淩ogers Property.鈥 Not until May 1, 1905, was the house acquired by the Bermingham family. The house was sold to Sarah Francis Bermingham, the wife of Cornelius Bermingham, for $8,500. This couple would later be aunt and uncle to Katherine Bermingham Macklem. For more information about Katherine Bermingham Macklem鈥檚 鈥淯ncle Con and Aunt Sally,鈥 you can visit 18 Barrie Street and read Mrs. Macklem鈥檚 short account of the Bermingham鈥檚 home and family history, entitled The Berminghams of Kingston.
Cornelius and Sarah Bermingham further added to and remodeled the house, adding the two鈥-story portico at the East side of the house. This addition, which was the house鈥檚 final expansion, was completed in 1906. Today, the house remains as it was designed more than 100 years ago by architect Frank Lent, from Gananoque.
Following Cornelius Bermingham鈥檚 death in 1932, the house was bequeathed to his brother, Christopher William Bermingham, who is the father of Katherine Bermingham Macklem, the final owner and donor of the house. As Katherine explains in The Berminghams of Kingston, 鈥淸Cornelius] left his house at 18 Barrie Street to my father. It was really a white elephant to him as he was quite happy in his own house, "Otterburn," so in 1934, as I was the only one of his children who had settled down in Kingston, and because my husband loved it and could afford to run it, he sold it to me for $1.00, and I have lived in it ever since.鈥
Katherine Bermingham Macklem lived in the home for over 50 years. In 1927, she married Oliver Tiffany Macklem in Kingston, Ontario. She and 鈥淭iff鈥 had two sons named Oliver Richard and Peter Tiffany Macklem, who both grew up in the house at 18 Barrie Street. Both Macklem boys attended Queen鈥檚 University.
鈥淒ick,鈥 as Oliver Richard was called, entered Queen鈥檚 Commerce following high school. He was highlighted in a local Kingston newspaper article Kingston Boys Win Scholarship having been awarded The Richardson Memorial Scholarship, valued at $220, upon his entry to Queen鈥檚 in 1948. Dick graduated from Queen鈥檚 in 1951. [CONFIRM]
The Macklem boys were thought by their family to be a military-bound since the Macklem boys鈥 father, Mr. Tiffany Macklem, had been the department head of civil engineering at the Royal Military College (R.M.C.) and was connected to the college for many years. At the Queen鈥檚 Archives in a Macklem family scrapbook you can find a tiny knit tricolor sweater made for Dick, which Mrs. Macklem described in a caption: 鈥淨ueen鈥檚 sweater knit for you鈥hen you were two weeks old for a practical joke鈥veryone took it for granted you would go to R.M.C.鈥 (Macklem Family fonds).
Dick鈥檚 younger brother, Peter Tiffany Macklem, also attended Queen鈥檚 University. He graduated from the Faculty of Arts in 1952 and went on to obtain his medical degree from McGill University in 1956. Our Queen鈥檚 University family is privileged to acknowledge Dr. Peter Macklem as one of Canada鈥檚 most famous physicians. Dr. Macklem pioneered the field of respiratory physiology in which he contributed to the understanding of early pulmonary damage as a result of smoking. 鈥淒r. Macklem was a remarkably creative and prolific scientist who contributed a number of seminal ideas to the field of respiratory medicine鈥 (CITE - CMHF, 2012 page). Dr. Macklem was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1982), Officer of the Order of Canada (1988), and was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (2012).
Mrs. Katherine Bermingham Macklem, Dick and Peter鈥檚 mother, continued her connection to medical students while living at Macklem House, which is nearby Queen鈥檚 medical buildings. Stories suggest that Mrs. Macklem surrounded herself with medical students who boarded in the house while they attended Queen鈥檚 for their medical training. One boarder is quoted to have said they 鈥渉ad the privilege of rooming at the Macklem house鈥 (Reznick, 2012CITE-dean鈥檚 blog page).
Upon Katherine Bermingham Macklem鈥檚 death, her two sons Peter Tiffany Macklem and Oliver Richard Macklem helped facilitate its donation to Queen鈥檚 University. Following its donation and with the help of Heritage Preservation Consultants, Queen鈥檚 commissioned the restoration of the house to its 1906 glory, including both the interior and exterior of the house. Noting the house鈥檚 presence, it is written in Buildings of Architectural and Historical Significance, Vol. 2, 鈥淭his house commands attention as it is on a prominent corner overlooking two areas of Macdonald Park鈥 (p. 146). A noteworthy architectural element of the house is the Classical Revival portico with four tall columns in the Ionic order, which are repeated on the single鈥搒tory verandah. The columns are continued within the interior of the house in dark wood with leaf-patterned capitals, and are accompanied throughout most of the house with dark-stained oak doors, stairs, railings, and coffered ceilings.
Today, the Queen鈥檚 University Faculty of Health Sciences decanal offices occupy the Katherine Bermingham Macklem House. On May 26, 2018 the house was featured on the Kingston Symphony Association鈥檚 Music Lovers鈥 House Tour. On that day, over 400 visitors were welcomed into the house to hear music, learn about the house鈥檚 history, and appreciate its grandeur.
![Katherine Bermingham Macklem](/encyclopedia/sites/qencwww/files/styles/image_gallery_thumbnail/public/images/m/macklemhouse/katharine.jpg?h=78f18082&itok=uDjqMMta)
![Portrait of Oliver Tiffany Macklem](/encyclopedia/sites/qencwww/files/styles/image_gallery_thumbnail/public/images/m/macklemhouse/oilvertiffanymacklem.jpg?h=4017efcc&itok=PsZGRvSx)
![Two young Macklem boys on the Macklem House Lawn.](/encyclopedia/sites/qencwww/files/styles/image_gallery_thumbnail/public/images/m/macklemhouse/peteranddick.jpg?h=5dd30c29&itok=n3X86Ebo)
![Image of child's tri-colour knitted sweater](/encyclopedia/sites/qencwww/files/styles/image_gallery_thumbnail/public/images/m/macklemhouse/macklemsweater.jpg?h=dfd10a8f&itok=6RBnLMYA)
![Peter Macklem grad photo](/encyclopedia/sites/qencwww/files/styles/image_gallery_thumbnail/public/images/m/macklemhouse/petergrad.jpg?h=de9922bc&itok=j9SnzxBx)
![Dick Macklem grad photo](/encyclopedia/sites/qencwww/files/styles/image_gallery_thumbnail/public/images/m/macklemhouse/dickgrad.jpg?h=6169bed2&itok=v7zw_HOj)
Contributed by Lindsay Mainhood, M.Ed., research assistant for the Faculty of Health Sciences Communications and Marketing Team (2018).
References
- Queen鈥檚 University Archives. Locator 5129. Macklem Family fonds. Macklem Family file series.
- Reznick, R. (2012, April). The Macklem House and a Canadian Medical 鈥楬ero鈥 [Dean on Campus Blog] Retrieved from https://rehab.queensu.ca/blog/?p=1446
- The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. (2012). Dr. Peter Macklem. Retrieved from http://cdnmedhall.org/inductees/dr-peter-macklem
- (1973). 18 Barrie St. Buildings of Architectural and Historical Significance (Vol. 2, pp. 146-148). Kingston.